Resistance forces take control of China-backed nickel mine in northern Myanmar

Anti-regime forces loyal to Myanmar’s publicly mandated National Unity Government (NUG) took control of a major Chinese-backed nickel-mining project in the country’s north late last month, a spokesperson for the NUG has confirmed. The Tagaung Taung mine, located about 150 miles north of Mandalay on the border between Mandalay Region’s Thabeikkyin Township and Sagaing Region’s Tigyaing Township, is Myanmar’s largest nickel production project. Troops from the People’s Defence Force (PDF), the NUG’s armed wing, took over the mine after junta soldiers stationed there agreed to leave without a fight, according to Kyaw Zaw, spokesperson for the NUG’s President’s Office. “We coordinated and accepted the surrender. The PDF troops ensured the security of the surrendering military personnel as they departed,” he said, speaking to Myanmar Now on Thursday. He added that the NUG has also formally notified the Chinese government that it will assume full responsibility for protecting its investment in the project. “After coordinating with contacts from China’s side, our groups are taking responsibility for security in the area around the project,” he said. “We respect foreign investments, including Chinese investments. As promised, we take responsibility for the security of the factory project, the safety of Chinese nationals, and the security of the families of Chinese nationals living and working at the factory.” The Tagaung Taung Nickel Mine has been operating since 2008 under a 20-year production-sharing agreement between the Chinese state-owned China Nonferrous Metal Mining and Construction Company and Myanmar’s Ministry of Mines No. 3 Mining Enterprise. Initiated during the regime of former military dictator Sen-Gen Than Shwe, the project was built with an investment of US$855 million, reportedly with the support of the China Development Bank and China Eximbank. Its annual production target is 85,000 tonnes of nickel. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r

Resistance forces take control of China-backed nickel mine in northern Myanmar

The National Unity Government says it will take full responsibility for security at the Tagaung Taung mine, the country’s largest producer of nickel

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